Honda Motor Co. will boost North American annual production capacity for Civic small cars by as many as 60,000 via rearranging assembly-plant operations, after running short of the model in the U.S.
The increase will be achieved by building Civics at a second Alliston, Ontario, plant starting in April, Honda said Monday. The annual rate will rise about 16 percent. To free up the capacity, Honda in February plans to begin shifting output of Pilot sport utility vehicles now at the Canadian factory to Lincoln, Ala.
"This underscores Honda's flexibility, that they can quickly shift production like this to meet demand," said Michael Robinet, an analyst at consulting firm CSM Worldwide Inc. in Farmington Hills. "They're more likely to see bottlenecks at parts suppliers than in-house capacity bottlenecks from this kind of move."
Honda blamed lack of availability of Civics for a 13 percent drop in U.S. sales of the cars last month. Civic sales increased 7.6 percent this year through September as U.S. gasoline prices reached $3 a gallon and consumer preferences shifted to smaller, fuel-efficient cars from models such as SUVs and pickup trucks.
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